Beard Awards Split Top Title Between N.Y, Chicago Chefs

David Chang of Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York and Paul Kahan of Blackbird, Chicago, last week were named joint winners of the accolade for Outstanding Chef in the United States at the James Beard Foundation awards.

The Outstanding Restaurant prize went to Blue Hill, New York; Rising Star Chef was Danny Bowien, of Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco and New York; and Best New Restaurant went to State Bird Provisions, San Francisco.

Among the regional Best Chef winners, Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 triumphed in New York, and Stephanie Izard of the Girl & the Goat won in Chicago. Outstanding service went to Del Posto, New York.

The awards are the main event in the U.S. culinary calendar and are accompanied by a weekend of parties and other events attended by chefs and restaurateurs. They were established in 1990 to celebrate, preserve and nurture America’s culinary heritage and diversity, the foundation’s Website says.

The winners were announced in a ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York.

Chang, a Korean-American, has restaurants in New York, Sydney and Toronto. He’s worked in the kitchens of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud and Tom Colicchio and is known for his creative gastronomy as the chef-founder of Momofuku. Kahan represents a new wave of Chicago chefs. His father owned a delicatessen and a smokehouse.